DALLAS – He’s facing a trio of senate primary challengers as he runs for reelection next year, but two-term us-regions Gov. greg-abbott” target=”_blank”>Greg Abbott<” as he pointed to his standing among Texas Republicans in public opinion surveys and the amount of cash in his campaign coffers.
ABBOTT ARGUES PROPOSED ELECTION REFORMS WILL MAKE IT ‘EASIER TO VOTE’ IN TEXAS
While he noted that “I take everybody very seriously, and it shows,” the governor pledged that he “will have the resources and the backing of a lot of people across the state of Texas to ensure that, whoever decides to run against me, we will be able to win.”
Abbott is facing primary challenges from the right from outgoing Texas GOP chair Allen West, former state Sen. Don Huffines, and political commentator Chad Prather.
Huffines, speaking Saturday at the cpac” target=”_blank”>Conservative Political Action Conference<
West, who is stepping down as Texas GOP chair now that he’s challenging the governor, last year made the extremely unusual move of vocally criticizing Abbott’s efforts to battle the coronavirus pandemic. He even took part in an anti-Abbott protest outside the governor’s mansion.
In an interview with Fox News on Friday, he criticized the governor over the volatile issue of border security and emphasized that “a lot of Texans were not happy with” the governor’s COVID restrictions.
Former Rep. Allen West of Florida, the outgoing chair of the Texas GOP, speaks at CPAC Dallas, on July 11, 2021 in Dallas, Texas.
Abbott’s made the headlines the past six weeks – signing into law bills restricting the teaching of critical race theory in his state and allowing Texas to carry handguns without a license. And a top item on his to-do list for state lawmakers during the special legislative session, which kicked off Thursday, is to pass GOP-backed legislation tightening voting access rules that was scuttled at the end of the regular session by a walkout of Democratic lawmakers.
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Abbott recently pledged to finish construction of border-wall” target=”_blank”>the border wall<
The governor, who was invited to speak at CPAC in Dallas, is not attending as he’s staying in the state capital city of Austin overseeing a special session of the Texas legislature that he requested to complete unfinished business left over from the regular session. And on Saturday the governor briefed state lawmakers and sheriffs from counties along the southern border with Texas about the state’s ongoing efforts to deal with the crisis at the U.S.-Mexican border.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, right, listens to Former President Donald Trump, left, during a visit to an unfinished section of border wall, in Pharr, Texas, Wednesday, June 30, 2021. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
While not attending CPAC allowed Huffines’ charges to go unanswered, Abbott has another powerful piece of ammunition as he runs for reelection – the endorsement of Trump, who remains extremely popular with GOP base voters in Texas and nationwide.
Veteran Austin-based Republican strategist Brendan Steinhauser told Fox News that Abbott’s “currently on pretty solid ground… We’ll see if any of these guys get any traction. I’m not a betting man but I don’t think I would bet today that he’s going to lose.”
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